brianv wrote:Contract? Did you sign a Contract with the Imaginary State? Or are we talking Unilateral Contracts here? Thuggery? I do not allow any commercial, religious, state entities near my door. In recent years, now that I know the game, it has been fun chasing them away. I demanded at their " state offices" that they remove my given name from fake "Voting Register". Also I have officially removed myself from their fake religion which was imposed on me at birth. I don't have dealings with the state thugs calling themselves "policemen". If it ever happens, they will have a fight I assure you! As for Tax, which is not the same here by the way, but is a tricky one none the less, but I try my best not to pay any. I have a large garden and try to grow what I can. I don't suffer Shopping Mall's( the New Religion), I try not to eat or use anything bought in one. In fact I actively encourage others to Boycott them. There are other hurdles, automatic speeding tickets got me once, so I have to consider the family here, I can't go making unilateral decisions when it affects others. Pay up I did. So basically it's no TV, Radio, no Printed propaganda, No Religion, no Shopping Mall's, No Politics, no Football, no Alcohol, no Cinema. I have also trained myself not to look at any form of Advertising. Adblock Installed! Another very important point is the proper education of my kids, and I'm delighted to say that they are growing up happy and healthy.

A Question.

What do you see?

Wow! Respect man! the only thing I really did to "unsubscribe from their imagined authority" was that I stopped voting in their forced elections and wrote them a letter why. Because I am self-employed I can somewhat decrease the amount of taxes I pay. I wasn't talking about contracting with the government. Just asking what you would do for example when a contractor screws you over.Answer: I see a symbol of one of the worst governments in history.

brianv wrote:Contract? Did you sign a Contract with the Imaginary State? Or are we talking Unilateral Contracts here? Thuggery? I do not allow any commercial, religious, state entities near my door. In recent years, now that I know the game, it has been fun chasing them away. I demanded at their " state offices" that they remove my given name from fake "Voting Register". Also I have officially removed myself from their fake religion which was imposed on me at birth. I don't have dealings with the state thugs calling themselves "policemen". If it ever happens, they will have a fight I assure you! As for Tax, which is not the same here by the way, but is a tricky one none the less, but I try my best not to pay any. I have a large garden and try to grow what I can. I don't suffer Shopping Mall's( the New Religion), I try not to eat or use anything bought in one. In fact I actively encourage others to Boycott them. There are other hurdles, automatic speeding tickets got me once, so I have to consider the family here, I can't go making unilateral decisions when it affects others. Pay up I did. So basically it's no TV, Radio, no Printed propaganda, No Religion, no Shopping Mall's, No Politics, no Football, no Alcohol, no Cinema. I have also trained myself not to look at any form of Advertising. Adblock Installed! Another very important point is the proper education of my kids, and I'm delighted to say that they are growing up happy and healthy.

A Question.

What do you see?

Wow! Respect man! the only thing I really did to "unsubscribe from their imagined authority" was that I stopped voting in their forced elections and wrote them a letter why. Because I am self-employed I can somewhat decrease the amount of taxes I pay. I wasn't talking about contracting with the government. Just asking what you would do for example when a contractor screws you over.Answer: I see a symbol of one of the worst governments in history.

Answer: A Piece of Cloth Attached to a Pole

You abstracted the notion of authority and government onto it. That's what you got to get past.

hoi.polloi wrote:Some kids even grow up swearing allegiance to a waving piece of cloth. Freaky, no?

Anything is possible once the culture enters the hallucinatory terrain of believing abstractions (such as governments) are real things, rather than shared imaginings. They can be loyal to bits of cloth, worship morons, kill their brothers, salute photographs ... all manner of ludicrous behaviours are possible once this particular mental illness takes hold.

hoi.polloi wrote:Some kids even grow up swearing allegiance to a waving piece of cloth. Freaky, no?

Anything is possible once the culture enters the hallucinatory terrain of believing abstractions (such as governments) are real things, rather than shared imaginings. They can be loyal to bits of cloth, worship morons, kill their brothers, salute photographs ... all manner of ludicrous behaviours are possible once this particular mental illness takes hold.

hoi.polloi wrote:Some kids even grow up swearing allegiance to a waving piece of cloth. Freaky, no?

Freakier still when you find it was written by a socialist in collaboration with flag maker and magazine publisher as a promotional gimmick to have both the flag and the magazine bought by every public school in the US. The nazi salute that was used initially as a display of reverence to the gimmick was modified to the hand on the heart gesture, presumably when its association with the actual nazis became evident.

But the owner at the time, Daniel Sharp Ford, felt the publication wasn't realizing its full potential. In 1888, as a premium to solicit subscriptions, he launched a campaign to sell American flags to public schools. At the time, a schoolhouse flag movement sought to “place a flag above every school in the nation.” The Youth’s Companion quickly became its most ardent supporter.